How Can We Stop Childhood Obesity in America Now?

The importance of keeping your kids fit could affect the rest of their life. Fighting childhood obesity is every parent's job. Statistics show that 16% of kids are obese, and 32% are overweight. Studies also show that kids that are overweight have a 3 to 4 times greater chance of developing heart disease, diabetes, and several other life changing diseases. They also are bullied more and have lower self-esteem.

These numbers show the importance of making sure your kids grow up fit. If your child is overweight, it's not too late to improve their health with some simple weight loss techniques that will keep them from being part of the childhood obesity statistics.

One of the things that has been shown to make a difference in preventing childhood obesity is to eat family meals together. If meals are eaten at various times, the quality of food tends to be less healthy. They will eat more prepared foods that are always less healthy. Prepared foods also contain elevated levels of sodium and are much fatter than they should. They also contain higher levels of simple carbs that will cause them to store more body fat aiding in childhood obesity.

So many of the foods that your kids like can be made much healthier if you cook them with real ingredients instead of getting it out of a box. A good example is macaroni and cheese, or spaghetti O's, or any of those canned or boxed meals for kids. If you use whole wheat pasta and use regular cheese or spaghetti sauce that has low fat and low sodium, you can give them the food they like and make it much better for them. These are just 2 examples of foods that you can make better if you look at what is in them and make them yourself and help fight childhood obesity.

Limit their sugar intake. The sugar added to many juices for kids makes them worse for the kids than pop. Sugary juice is not good for them. Reading labels on the food and drinks that you give to your kids is one of the best things you can do to fight childhood obesity, by giving them healthier things to put into their bodies. This alone can be enough to significantly improve their health and yours as well. All canned and bottled juice have sugar or corn syrup added.

Pack their lunch for school. The foods that they get fed at school lunches are not always the best for them. The congress has just declared pizza is a vegetable. You can pack those things that they like without the extras from processed foods. You can also give them a treat in their lunch so they will eat more of their lunch. It's OK to have a treat occasionally.

Get them away from the TV and video games when they are home, they need to be playing and moving to help build their muscles and bones as they grow. They need to get exercise to burn calories and keep off the fat. It is much easier to burn off fat when you're young than when you get older. Get them into extracurricular activities in school, or out of school. Try different activities to find out what interests them. Try team and individual sports, or activities.

Childhood obesity is becoming a huge problem, you and your kids don't have to participate. The last and most important thing is for you to set a good example. They will be more likely to want to try things and get involved in things if you show them, for example, that exercise is good, and eating healthy is good. They look up to you for many of the things they need to grow up to be healthy and productive adults and not be part of the childhood obesity epidemic.

Should you lose weight with a low carb diet The best weight loss diet, is a diet that is high in protein, with moderate carbs and moderate fat. The type of carbs that you eat are of utmost importance. Some weight loss diets will tell you to avoid carbs completely at first, and work them back in over time.